The URPG Times Issue #1 - slightly earlier than June 1st!

ISSUE #1 - JUNE 1ST

Yo, welcome back! This will be the first revamped issue of many, and I'm pretty sure it's gonna be quite the success. The articles are pretty darn well-written, informative, and funny. We're a bit lacking in the ol' artwork section but that's okay, art sucks anyway. Hopefully next issue we can have some quirky comics! As for the URPG itself, there isn't a whole lot going on yet as people are winding down the school year and people have finals and what not. That being said, there's still a pretty cool and interesting tournament coming up that I urge you all to check out. The Devolution Tournament is taking sign ups, but you better hurry up as they close a few days from now!! Entry costs 10,000 but that money will be reimbursed if you complete your battles, and there's some pretty great prizes going!

The Target for this issue is @DarknessRuler ; Anyone who defeats him in a Target Battle (with rules of his choosing) before the next issue will get a small prize! Post in this thread with a link to log if completed!

Anyway, on with the issue!



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Pokemon That Pretty Much Wreck You Always

Synthesis

Oh, you know these Pokemon well. Some of them were fierce threats that dominated the OU metagame and were deemed too broken before being exiled and never seen again. Some of these fearsome Pokemon are current top contenders for the throne, desperate to claim their title as king or queen of Smogon's OU. Some of them are even just considered meh in the Smogon metagames. Here, with no official tiering and banlists, some Pokemon thrive and some wither and die. You won't get very far in any high level URPG battle, particularly E4 or Champion (lol as if that'll happen!), without detailed knowledge of the Pokemon that I'll be discussing each issue, their uses, limits and checks. Each issue I will take a look in detail at three of the best Pokemon out there in the URPG. I'll try and have a varied selection of Pokemon each week, and hopefully inform people enough so they can make educated decisions in battles. Even if people just enjoy the articles, that's good enough for me!

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While "Jolty baby" may seem like the runt of the litter, don't let its looks deceive you. It has a slot in three of the current E4 and has been a vital E4 slot for as long as these strenuous battles existed. The absurd speed allows Jolty to outspeed and deal with a huge array of opponents effectively, speed-tieing with the rarely seen Aerodactyl and Crobat, and only beaten by Mega Manectric, Accelgor, and Ninjask - none of which are really seen at E4 level.

A Special Attack of 319 seems pretty decent, but it actually allows Jolteon to 2HKO a variety of Pokemon such as Gengar with its STAB Thunder or decent pool of coverage moves if you can risk the potential misses. The lack of Ground types and Electric resists at this level of play lets Jolteon abuse its tremendous speed and powerful STAB Volt Switch to deal a decent chunk to almost anything, and even gives you switch-momentum, something extremely important. Even if there's a Ground type out, Jolt can opt for Baton Pass to successfully put momentum back in your favour. This lets you send in your best check or counter for anything Jolteon can't handle.

While his bulk does seem rather lacking, don't take it for granted. With correct prediction and that glorious speed, Jolteon can create quite the bulky illusion. It can effectively bolster defenses with Reflect, Light Screen, Charm, and the newfound Baby Doll Eyes can be great, albeit situational, as Jolteon operates at near-Prankster levels anyway. Roar and Yawn are great at forcing switches, although Roar can be very risky as Jolteon sacrifices his speed for this, but is often useful behind a Sub. Toxic is always nice for the select Pokemon that hard-wall Jolteon, while Thunder Wave can really cripple some Pokemon and prevent opposing sweeps.

Jolteon's rather decent Special Defense allows it to handle Togekiss, Rotom-W, Whimsicott, and other Jolteon surprisingly well, provided you watch Togekiss' Encore, Yawn/Protect, Tailwind, Roost and Light Screen shenanigans. Jolteon-Jolteon wars never last long as one will inevitably Yawn/Roar/Baton Pass, forcing switches if not switching out themselves, although Double Edge does decent damage to opposing Jolteon. Switching in on Whimsicott is nice, but Jolteon can't really break Subs after a Light Screen without the right Hidden Power. Taunt, Encore and Substitute can neuter Jolteon and spell doom if you don't predict correctly between selecting Hidden Power, Roar, Toxic or another pivotal move. Rotom-W can't break subs after LS, just watch out for Snatch and the Hydro Pump that hit can hurt without an LS up.

When you add in Wish, Heal Bell, Leftovers, and Volt Absorb healing, Jolteon often remains quite healthy and usually lasts the majority of extended battles if you play him correctly. This places it as arguably the best scout, being able to repeatedly come in, deal significant damage or effectively deal with opposing Pokemon while providing switch momentum. However, any STAB Earthquake will decimate Jolteon (hurray for Magnet Rise) and most unSTAB EQ can still OHKO. Random Flare Blitz, Outrage, High Jump Kicks, and most other powerful physical moves destroy our little pup, forcing it out, or risk losing him in order to prevent an opposing Blaziken/Infernape/Dragonite sweep through damage (praying for no Weakness Policy/Red Card), status (and praying no Lum), or Roaring (and praying stat up move or Sub). Jolteon is so worthwhile that many people throughout the ages have purchased numerous Eevee in order to get one with the desired Hidden Power. Ice is vastly superior, but Grass, Fire, Fighting and Poison are all useful for handling one or two specific targets.

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Greninja, or more recently "Grenubja", is the newcomer to this Game of Thrones. Desperate to be true URPG King, Greninja offers blazing speed (just under Jolteon's), Protean which gives it much higher offenses essentially, U-turn scouting, as well as a huge offensive and supporting movepool. Although Greninja is a solid 18 Speed points below Jolteon/Crobat, it rests at the ridiculously high end of the spectrum where it may as well be one Speed point less as the large difference makes no... well, difference.

While ts initial offenses are decent at best, sitting just below 300, Protean essentially pushes these up to 400 or so, higher than Azumarill's Huge Power Attack. Hydro Pump/Ice Beam/Extrasensory/Dark Pulse/Grass Knot/Hidden Power/Rock Slide/Acrobatics from such offenses allow Greninja to 2HKO just about every single Pokemon used at this level, meaning it can easily clean up shop late-game after a Power-up Punch or two and a little Life Orb help. Its coverage is so good that the only Types it can't become are Electric, Fairy, Fire, and Steel (or Poison and Ground through offensive moves, for this reason HP Poison is one of the better possibilities as it can OHKO Whimsicott).

Shadow Sneak/Quick Attack/Water Shuriken can pick off most weakened Pokemon or allow for Prankster mind-games against faster opponents, making them a lot more useful than you would initially imagine. Using Quick Attack against a Jolteon for instance effectively gives Greninja an extra turn or two, allowing it to take Electric moves rather well.

The support movepool is pretty glorious too. Spikes/Toxic Spikes/Haze/Taunt/powerful U-turn/Thief/Fling/Role Play and so much more all have their uses, particularly when combined with Protean. For instance, using Spikes against a Jolteon switching in not only gives some free entry hazards, but also means Jolteon can't do a whole lot to li'l Grenny. Toxic Spikes are so underrated, and potentially game-changing if the opponent lacks Poison types or Defoggers. Taunt is always a risk, but often very worth it. Thief, Fling and Acrobatics can make for some very interesting combinations with Gems, Orbs and various other items. Flinging an Iron Ball gives a STAB 130 BP Attack that's only resisted by Dark and Fairy types, which aren't very common. Is it worth the halved Speed? Probably not, but maybe. Proteaning to ensure a resisted hit can be a great way to activate Gren's Red Card too if you like forcing switches. Lum is great for the very common paralysis, or even for pseudo-healing through Rest later on.

Proteaning to resist a hit can very often backfire without perfect prediction. In fact, this and paralysis are probably Greninja's biggest hurdles. Let's not forget that while Greninja can just about 2HKO everything, it is very susceptible to being OHKO'd or made near-useless through paralysis. The only Pokemon that are really useable and avoid the 2HKO are Azumarill and Rotom-W, who both are too light for Grass Knot to do a whole lot. Dragonite can work too if Multiscale's still intact and you predict correctly around Taunt/Ice Beam/Rock Tomb/U-turn. Jolteon is something that has to be watched out for as it can outspeed and decimate the 'Ninja with little worries.

No way of boosting Special Attack limits Gren from truly sweeping teams that haven't been weathered down a good deal, unless you somehow manage to get a good few Power-up Punch boosts. That being said, it's great at punching holes in everything, scouting and occassionally supporting the team. Nasty Plot would really help him nab the crown, but for now, he's just a very serious and unpredictable threat that everyone should be prepared for.

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Next up is the Jester, Ditto. Thankfully I don't have to blab too much about this because there isn't a whole lot to say. Ditto is pretty much the Lord of preventing opposing sweeps. Imposter allows it to steal the opponent's stat boosts, ability, and everything about them that they've been using against you. Unless you want to risk Speed ties, Choice Scarf is pretty much mandatory, although you could risk Red Card if you know the sweeping Pokemon would have Endure, so you could Endure their hit, force them out and sweep, provided they lack priority... or something crazy like that. Leftovers, for once, aren't the best as you'll be using this to sweep and not to stay healthy. Lum also isn't great as most sweepers lack status moves that would work against themselves, with the exception of Dragonite and possibly Togekiss -- Blaziken and Infernape won't burn you any time soon.

The advent of Imposter Ditto allowed some pretty risky strategies. One of which being the "allow opponent to set up in your face only for you to bring Ditto in and counter-sweep". Now, this can work, and has worked, but there are some big things you have to avoid. Your opponent cannot catch on to what you're doing. If they realise that Ditto's in the wings, they can Sub. And guess what Imposter fails against? Yeah, you'd be completely swept. Another problem arises with Blaziken. If you let them set up a whole bunch, they can Baton Pass out to something that can take out an opposing Blaziken. This could be something that's faster than 259 holding a Choice Scarf, which quite a few E4 teams have, or some really-boosted priority like Dragonite's Extreme Speed, or anything really. If you're facing Ash, Murkrow will shut down any opposing sweepers, including your Ditto, effectively through Haze/Thunder Wave/Whirlwind/etc. Bear in mind that your Ditto clone has 300 max HP so it will almost always be less bulky than the opponent's Pokemon, and sometimes significantly less bulky.

Ditto will almost always prevent an opponent sweeping provided you never switch it directly in. It costs a vital team slot to almost guarantee you won't get swept, so with Blaziken and Weakness Policy Dragonite on just about every team, it is a very deserved team member. It has its limits, but these can be worked around if you play your cards correctly and think like your opponent. What's more is unless you bought a Ditto while you could, enjoy having to write a Complex story for one! Huehuehue!

This concludes our first installment of Pokemon That Pretty Much Wreck You Always (name tbd), but there'll be many more to come! Hopefully it provided some insight to people who want to get more into (semi-)serious battling. Any advice/suggestions are always appreciated, so lemme know. Synammon bun out!



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Evol Eurt - a Love Story

Smiles

His bob floats there and sees the hours go by before descending deep into the sea like the anchor of his heart left here. He finds within that metal sphere the embodiment of his soul, encased there in confines of cold steel grey that shield him from the water threatening to crush the sphere to a tiny point. He would like to step into the sphere’s place along the rocky ridges of the coral, pressed under the course sand, so that neither man nor creature will bite so painfully into his chest as the rejection that had pierced him. It does not have to rise again and that is not sad. That too, like the sun that sinks southward, beyond the mountains, through the center of the Earth and into another space, is simply another pattern of life.

He absently questions miracles. The sun sets though never settles, angrily hurling violent oranges and reds across the great battlefield called the sky. It is no miracle that the sky looks like this today and cannot be indicative of some greater design or pattern. The red and orange intermix and swirl through the rippling waves like blood beating through one big vein. The veins in his heart are not miracles, but only a pattern – a pattern easily disrupted. Cut open. Bled out. The belief of a miracle dies with only a black stain to leave behind.

He stains the air with a sigh. The universe answers him back with a cold chill that creeps under his skin. Irked, he turns away from the waterscape for the first time in hours, unpleasantly finding his own vision weaving in and out. The dense waves crash against the core of his brain but still they do not wash away the horrid memory – that the most important miracle in his life had been a lie –

A shrill sound attacks the weakness of his wavering consciousness. Shuddering slightly, he blinks twice and dryly coughs as if to untangle the drunken bodies of sight and sound.

Against the backdrop of a curtain of trees sits a man on the shore. All the golden leaves that drift around him are not yet worth more than his smile, a wide crescent that lights up the world more than the arising moon. Beige shorts blur into the sand; it’s only the man’s green eyes that suspend him above any real landscape. It is as if he is a mythical serpent arisen from imagination, summoning the chosen one with those open, embracive eyes.

“Hey! Hey. Man.” The shrill sound slowly translates into words. The man with a steel sphere for a soul blinks again, and when he opens his eyes the other man faces him. “What’s your name?”

“Evol.”

“Sweet. I’m Eurt,” he replies, with a voice that rings in Evol’s ears in a back-and-forth, chipper manner like a bird singing at dawn. “Evol, you look like death.” He says this with a wide grin. Over the course of afternoon to eight P.M., Eurt watched over ten concerned parties approach the man whose rod had not been bitten or reeled in even once. His blue eyes seemed to be water lights from another world, darkening in intervals that had no regard for the rest of the Earth’s patterns. His toned musculature was clad in only a tank top and jeans, so Eurt made it a bit of a game to see how many attracted onlookers attempted to comfort the man only to be greeted by silence.

Evol never answers. Satisfied, Eurt whistles as he extends his line into the sea like a hand waving hello to the water world. He lies down next to Evol. The man’s presence is as chill as the breeze gently blowing over the blackening world.

“Why do you release all the fish that you catch,” Evol says. His tone is more factual than inquisitive. Over the past few days, he has gone over too many theoretical answers and situations and questions no longer have any bearing in his world.

“Ah! The angel speaks!” Eurt sits up on his elbows. Before he answers, his line comes alive and he jumps on his feet to catch it before it too jumps into the ocean. Evol watches, his gaze still faraway, as Eurt grins and huffs. The line bounces back and forth like Ctulu is a puppet master making Eurt dance for him on land. But Eurt is far too amused to be played, having too much fun with the mighty creature that wants to make its escape.

Without speaking, Evol arises. He towers over Eurt when he reaches behind him, grabs his arms and helps reel in the little monster that even fights on land. It throws sparkles and water across the salty air like fireworks igniting the fuel of a crisp, young night. Flopping this way and that like an ancient courtship dance, the long whiskers of the fish blur into the florescent scales and the three sharp fins. An open mouth seems to want to say something that cannot be understood by these silly and handsome humans.

“A shiny Magikarp! It’s a freakin’ miracle!” Eurt exclaims. He hugs Evol behind him, who still holds him in his own arms, suspended in amazement.

Eurt moves the Magikarp into a carrying aquarium that snaps shut. Its sparkles make it glow as it swims contentedly, a fire in the middle of water, a light amidst darkness.

He is the truth. “Yeah, there are many fish. I was waiting for the right one.” He places the aquarium in Evol’s hands, knowing that the magic of a miracle is enough to open up a smile on his face for the first time in what must be weeks. Five years he had spent with the miracle in his life. One day ended the pattern that would have went on for years, the belief of a greater life and purpose. One moment ended the miracle, the idea of marriage, that terrible concept of love.

Evol and Eurt fish together the next day. Eurt has made him believe in miracles again, and this pattern of their shared presence will never end. Truth and love have come alive in the water, lightening the universe forever.



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Pokemon of the Week - Bronzong

SwiftGallade and Ash K.

The Trivia Section with Swift

Who’s That Pokemon?! …Also Why is it Called That?

Bronzong as it appears in X and Y

It’s good to see the URPG Times back up and running! To kick things off, we’ve rolled an interesting Pokemon this week: it’s Bronzong, the Bronze Bell Pokemon! Bronzong’s English name is fairly simple to derive: it comes from bronze, and either gong or dong. Its Japanese name, Dohtakun, comes from dotaku—meaning bronze bell—and dondon—the onomatopoeia for a drumming sound.

Basis and Origin!

An ancient dotaku that closely resembles Bronzong

Bronzong’s design is modeled after part of its Japanese name: the dotaku. Dotaku were ancient bells buried by farmers in rural Japan in order to bring rain and bountiful harvests. If you look closely on Bronzong’s back, you can see the carving of a small stalk. This draws more similarity to the dotaku, which were often decorated with carvings of nature.

Probably the most interesting part of Bronzong’s origin, however, comes from an old Japanese folktale known as Of a Mirror and a Bell. In the folktale, several women donate their bronze mirrors to be melted down into a large bell for a nearby temple. The priests graciously accept the mirrors, but when they are sent to be melted down, one of them remains cold even when placed in the fire. As it turned out, the former owner of the mirror regretted donating it so much that her selfish desires kept the mirror from melting. The woman, greatly shamed for her regret, decides to drown herself, angrily vowing that anyone who breaks the mirror will be given great riches by her spirit. With the final mirror finally melted into the bell, the priests set it up in the temple. Many people attempt to break the bell, hoping to acquire riches. Soon, the priests decide to roll the bell into a nearby swamp to rid them of the incessant ringing. The bell becomes lost forever, buried in the swamp.

From this folktale, several aspects of Bronzong are explained. First is its relation to Bronzor, which represents the mirror that was donated by the woman. Bronzong and Bronzor’s Ability of Heatproof is also given new meaning, drawing its basis from the fact that the selfish woman’s mirror remained cold in the fire. And finally, several of Bronzong’s Pokedex entries are explained. Many of them state that Bronzong was uncovered at a burial site 2000 years ago, which coincides with the time that the dotaku was rolled into the swamp by the priests. In conclusion, beating a Bronzong in battle will grant you eternal wealth from some old lady’s ghost. By the way, many sources claim that, after obtaining the wealth, your soul is guaranteed to go to hell. Bronzong OP much?

Look, Mom, I’m on TV!

Lucian's Bronzong during its debut appearance in the anime
Bronzong hasn’t had very much time in the spotlight of the anime. Its main role came in its debut episode, An Elite Meet and Greet!, where it was used by Sinnoh Elite Four member Lucian to battle Dawn’s Buizel. Of course, Dawn was still a nub, so her Buizel was easily defeated, handing Buizel his first loss. Lucian and his Bronzong were later seen in Top Down Training where Cynthia’s Garchomp kicked its bronze butt as Lucian tried to overthrow the Champion. Bronzong’s only other important role was in the 12th movie, Arceus and the Jewel of Life, where one was used by the antagonist Marcus for his own nefarious purposes. It is interesting to note that Bronzong has yet to even make a cameo outside the Diamond and Pearl series of the anime. Maybe people finally learned that it’s only good for beating the pants off of amateur trainers and their Buizel. Or maybe everyone got scared that it might break and grant them all eternal damnation. Either way, Bronzong hasn’t been seen for a while, and I certainly hope it makes another appearance soon.

Fun Facts

Oooh shiny!

Bronzong has no type weaknesses in the fourth generation Mystery Dungeon games! In them, it has both of its Abilities: Heatproof and Levitate. Since this was before it became weak to Ghost and Dark, Bronzong was a pretty good choice to use on a team in those games!

Instead of closing in the generation five games, Bronzong’s eyes simply turn white when it blinks or falls asleep. For some reason, this no longer happens in generation six.

And finally, several trainers in the Battle Subway and the Battle Maison run Bronzong sets that involve Rain Dance. This is probably a nod to its Pokedex entries, which state that it can summon rain at will. Other than that, Rain Dance doesn’t benefit Bronzong too much other than decreasing its Fire weakness a bit.

And that’s all for this week’s trivia about Bronzong! I hope you enjoyed reading into where this big blue bell came from, and if you want to learn more go to this page, which was my main source of research this week.


Picture by ice-cream-skies on deviantart


So… Is it useful?

Bronzong is a Steel/Psychic type, which gives it weaknesses to Fire, Ground, and as of generation 6, Ghost and Dark. Looking at the abilities, it has access to Heatproof, Levitate, and Hidden Ability Heavy Metal. Heavy Metal only will help Heavy Slam (as well as weakening a Heavy Slam or Heat Crash against you) but will power up an opponent’s Low Kick or Grass Knot. Heatproof and Levitate each will cover up one of Bronzong’s weaknesses. In private sending, this can be used to play mind games with which ability it has and therefore which type to use. Now what moves should this bell have?

By level up, Bronzong gets Block, Confuse Ray, Confusion, Extrasensory, Feint Attack, Future Sight, Gyro Ball, Heal Block, Heavy Slam, Hypnosis, Imprison, Iron Defense, Metal Sound, Payback, Psywave, Rain Dance, Safeguard, Sunny Day, and Tackle. Hax, STAB, weather control, and Imprison. Pretty solid. How about EMs?

Calm Mind is great for buffing up both offensive and defensive capabilities and is one of the most important things for Bronzong. Rock Polish and/or Trick Room are important for gaining the speed advantage. Psych Up is always a useful move to have. Since Bronzong has slightly higher Attack but can only raise Special Attack, it can be important to be prepared with both physical and special moves. Flash Cannon and Iron Head provide more reliable Steel STABs. Zen Headbutt provides a physical Psychic STAB. Psychic provides a slightly stronger special STAB than Extrasensory. Psyshock is useful for when you’re specially boosted against a low Defense Pokémon. Dream Eater is a strong STAB attack that will also heal you, to be used probably with Hypnosis. Due to Bronzong’s defensive nature, Toxic, Protect, Reflect, Light Screen, Substitute, Rest, and Sleep Talk are also useful moves.

Type variety moves useful for Bronzong include Rock Tomb/Rock Slide, Bulldoze/Earthquake, Shadow Ball, Charge Beam, Hidden Power, Grass Knot/Solar Beam, Ancient Power/Rollout, and Signal Beam. The speed lowering moves are useful for some things, but Bronzong is slow enough that a lot will remain faster even with Speed-1. Explosion is also a good move in case you’re about to faint anyways.

Bronzong is generally played defensively with Iron Defense and Calm Mind. Due to having the choice between Heatproof and Levitate, it can trick opponents into not knowing which type to use.



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Gym Leader Interview - Black Reaper

Smiles

May 21st, 2014. The morning looked like victory. The sun’s rays shot off the crystal chandelier of the Pokémon Dome before me, shooting glorious light in all directions. Blinded, I shielded my eyes as I pushed my way through a sea of spectators trying to enter the dome; today’s gym battle was likely an epic one, and I found myself apologizing profusely as I bumped into the eleven siblings of the gym leader himself. Their huge grins nearly paralleled the sizes of the motivational posters they held high for their brother, who came bursting out of the Dome Doors with his hands high, the Gliscor he rode upon screeching in victory. The enemy Pokémon’s fur was draped over the gym leader’s mighty shoulders, fangs and all, and he returned the crowd’s smiles with aplomb. This champion was none other than BK201, more affectionately known as Black Reaper, the Gym Leader of Viridian City!

With pencil and paper in hand, I followed him avidly until he entered the Pokémon Academy. I thought that he wouldn’t mind an important distraction from class, so I introduced myself and took a seat next to him at one of the polished oak desks.

“How long have you had Viridian City? What inspired you to take that gym?” I asked after an initial mishap.

He laughed and replied, “TED was the best Ground leader I had ever seen. I faced his gym four times I believe, and each time I was so close, but he took away the victory. Battling with him really made me want to become a Ground leader, and when he left, I saw a chance to fill a great role he left behind.”

Hit with nostalgia by Reaper’s humble words, I thought about TheEvilDookie and the legacy he left for the URPG. Seeing the determination in Reaper’s eyes, I knew that TED would be more than proud of him now.

“Ground’s such a fun type! Do you have any battling strategies or secrets you take into your gym to destroy the competition?”

Reaper thought reflectively for a moment or two, a smile coming to his face. “Yes, I have a few strategies Haze gave me. But right now, I don’t have everything I need to use them. So I stick with a basic plan ATF helped me come up with, which should help in future battles.”

The brotherly love made me touch my neck in fond appreciation. I thought what he said was completely understandable, as it seemed like part of the fun in running a gym was working towards and designing new strategies. Unfortunately, I had said this out loud when I thought I had only thought it!

“It is indeed fun, but very hard too since there are not a lot of Ground Pokémon. That gives a big disadvantage since there are a lot of counters to Ground,” he replied politely. “But I like the challenge. It will only make me a stronger battler.”

I LOVED his fighting spirit! “That being said with the Ground Pokémon, what’s your favorite ‘mon to use in your gym?”

“Good question. It would be a tie with Gliscor and Excadrill. Both are very strong and can turn a losing battle so fast. I can’t tell you how many times I have come close to winning a fight and then those Pokémon just come and sweep you away.”

Gliscor gurgled approvingly, his two eyes portals that had already stolen our souls in their golden depths. I imagined an Excadrill burrowing from the center of the Earth itself, gathering speed and acceleration before it literally split the world in half before its trainer. The two Pokémon seemed fitting and worthy of Reaper’s gym!

“Both can get dumped on pretty hard, but that goes for all Pokémon. Really, in the end, what it comes down to as a gym leader is being able to look at the opponent and his Pokémon, being able to put yourself in his shoes, knowing what moves he is going to take to win. Being able to see five turns ahead allows you to out move the enemy and win.”

He spoke with a type of clairvoyance that had even the deathly Gliscor spellbound by his master! He continued by saying, “That is one thing ATF made sure I learned as a battler. Because if you can’t do that, chances are you will fail.”

This was inspirational advice I wanted to take into my own gym! Curious about the relationship between AmericanTreeFrog and Reaper, I said, “Your brother and you sound so close. Has he ever taken on your gym, or have you ever taken on his gym?”

He laughed heartily before saying, “I tried his gym and was sweeped.” Quickly, he tacked on, “But I was a new trainer at the time, and he had never challenged my gym.”

I nodded. “Who was the most exciting challenger to ever face your gym?”

He thought beyond his victories at Viridian City Gym. I asked him to share his cool history of gyms he’d owned. “Last gym I owned was Striaton City Gym, and the one before that was my very first gym, Oreburgh City. My first ever gym battle was with SLC in that gym and I won.” He smiled so brightly, I imagined fireworks going off in his head.

“Anyways, back to your question. The most exciting challenger I ever had was in Oreburgh Gym when I faced WTP. He smashed my gym so hard, but I loved it when he beat me. I saw every little thing I did and almost all the weaknesses of my gym. I learned so much from the one battle and being able to fight one of the elites of the URPG was so much fun. I was able to win more battles after that one loss thanks to him. Fighting an Elite really gives you a buzz. Makes you want to go back for more and win.”

Taken aback by his humble words, I could only imagine how much stronger he had gotten since that time. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was among those ranks one day!

“I aim to be Elite Four Champion,” he profoundly said. “And I will claim it before I fully leave the URPG. That is my goal.”

With his drive and determination, he was already a champion in my eyes! Leaving on those lofty aspirations, I thanked Reaper and wished him the best of luck in his endeavors. He mounted his Gliscor and they bulleted through the Pokémon Academy’s roof. School was out now and forever! What an inspirational guy!



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How Not to Battle Like an Idiot

Monbrey

While Synthesis may be talking about which Pokemon are popular, dangerous, and underrated in the URPG metagame, none of that is any use for those of you who can't battle your way out of a wet paper bag. So each issue, I’ll be giving you some advice on the unique features of the URPG battling styles, common mistakes people make, and other things I’ve learned over my time as a battler and a referee. You might think it’s to help you be a better battler. Really it’s just to make your battles less painful for the poor referee that has to face-palm every turn.

For the first few issues, I’m going to focus on the D/P/Pt and B/W battling modes. These battle modes are generally regarded as being a little less competitively balanced than the Revolution styles. As a result, you’ll never see these modes in URPG Tournaments. However D/P/Pt is popular amongst Gym Leaders, who can exploit the mode. Basically, we’re horrible people who know how to minimize the disadvantageous turns and capitalise on the others.

Every alternating turn, either you or your opponent has to send a move first. If you’re sending second, you have the upper hand. But when you have to send a move first, there are lot of seriously bad options that will leave you wide open to a counterattack and leave the ref wondering “What the hell is this moron thinking?”

Protect/Detect:
Unless your opponent is on a two-turn move, which isn’t common in URPG for this exact reason, sending Protect first is a bad idea. You’re openly telling your opponent that you won’t be dangerous at all, giving them the opportunity to do pretty much whatever they want except attack. Sub, raise their stats, set up entry hazards, switch in a counter, charge up a two-turn move that would otherwise never work, and anything else generally intended to bend you over and make you their bitch. Although Protect can keep you safe from attacks for one turn, it’s more than likely going to result in something twice as painful a turn later.

Conditional Activation:
This is very similar to Protect and Detect, and it refers to moves like Sucker Punch, Counter and Mirror Coat, Magic Coat, and anything else which will only work under certain circumstances. Unless your opponent turns out to be as dumb as you are, they aren’t going to activate the move. They’ll use a special move vs Counter, or a status move against Sucker Punch. Deterring your opponent from one type of attack only leaves you wide open to all others.

Status Moves:
These are somewhat situational and not always a bad choice. However, sending a move like Swords Dance can be a bad idea if your opponent carries Snatch – you’re giving them a free boost. Sending status-inducing moves like Confuse Ray or Thunder Wave can also backfire, particularly if your Pokemon is slower. Your opponent will be able to anticipate and reflect the move with Magic Coat, Sub against it, or Taunt you out of performing the move at all.

Throwaway Moves:
Finally, a common error I see people making is the mindset that “I’m going to get KO’d anyway, I’ll just use Quick Attack to get a bit more damage in.” If you’re okay with being KO’d, force your opponent to do it. In most circumstances, a weak priority move isn’t really worth the 10% damage you’ll get out of it, because it gives your opponent the option to endure that damage and set up a bit further. Weak attacks like this give your opponent no real reason to KO you that turn. Though not always, it’s usually a better option to select a seriously damaging or threatening move that forces your opponent to KO you, rather than prepare themselves better for your next Pokemon.

Finally, if your opponent DOES make a mistake and let you capitalise on the turn order or the situation, make sure you do! I’ve told you what mistakes not to make, so you should be able to look out for them yourself too. A battle full of dumb moves can be frustrating for a ref. A battle that drags on forever because the mistakes aren’t punished is downright infuriating.



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Trivia Quiz and Games

Lovecraft

Q1. So far, how many of the protagonist's mom's previous occupations do we know about – and what are they?
Q2. In Generation II, healing in Japanese games took more balls, why is that?
Q3. In the 4th Generation PMD games there were 4 Pokemon without weaknesses in game. What were they?
Q4. There are 5 Pokemon that are listed as Green on the Pokedex, but are actually blue and have green shiny sprites. Who are they? Hint: Look at official artwork colour!

The Society of Pokemon MENSA has left this set of instructions for interested iniates to solve. They are as follows:

“6 I___________ in a P_______________
16 H_____________ T_______________
189 A__________ E______ C__________
84 G_________ for G______ S__________*
656 P_____________ H_______________ C__________
25 M__________ S____________ G__________

*Only things made specifically for g__________ and s__________ g________ are considered.

Take a letter of a pair not hidden and discard it, never mind the star and then find the perverted objects.”

Disclaimer: All words are single entities, i.e.: Feather Dance becomes Featherdance and Effort values become Effortvalues

Examples of usual MENSA problems is also included. All statements but the hidden one are about Pokemon, and the information can only be considered accurate by the 1st of June.
52 C_____________ in a D____________ = 52 Cards in a Deck
2598960 P________________ P____________ H_________ = 2598960 Possible Poker Hands



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Annnnd that concludes the first issue! Make sure to battle this week's target, Darkness Ruler, collect 1,000 if you own a Bronzong, PM your Quiz answers to myself, and read all the articles that interest you! Anyone found sharing answers or helping other members won't receive any pay for their quizzes and won't be able to take part in future ones! Any questions, queries, feedback, or anything, feel free to PM myself (Synthesis) or any of the other accomplished Staff!

Good job, y'all!
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I'm like 99.9% positive I'm supposed to post to claim money for Bronzong, so yeah, gonna hop to that now, "steal" this 1k, and be on my way.

 

I too have a Bronzong.

 

http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/showthread.php?t=154078&p=5268682&viewfull=1#post5268682

This was a Target Battle. RSE Randoms Target is dumb. iirc in the past the rules were set in the beginning *cough* so they they couldn't be changed to RSE for a particular battle *cough*

 

while I agree randoms target is very dumb (actually randoms are just very dumb in general imo) I think it's better not to have set rules for Target battles. Allowing the target to make the rules makes it more interesting, and makes the battles more significant. The target might want their opponent to jump through a few hoops if they want their prize. But yeah like i said randoms are stupid. very stupid.

 

The target can make the rules provided it's 4v4+. Randoms is very stupid, but their decission not yours really. Target is also a temporary thing so nothing to lose sleep over dudes!

 

have bronzong 27,750 + 1,000 = 28,750

 

I beat DR gimmeh something good

 

I want to say something mildly cool sounding like "Target Acquired" but that just sounds lame now.

 

I have a Bronzong =D

Thanks, iReign!

 

also claiming bronzong pennies